MoJo Author Feeds: Andrew Treleaven | Mother Joneshttp://www.motherjones.com/rss/authors/110641
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enBehind Rebel Lines in Libyahttp://www.motherjones.com/photoessays/2011/04/benghazi-libya-qaddafi-rebels-photos
<img src="http://www.motherjones.com/files/imagecache/node-gallery-display/photoessays/img_6150.jpg" alt="" title="" width="635" height="423" class="imagecache imagecache-node-gallery-display"/><div class="caption"><p>A rebel flashes a peace sign&nbsp;while manning an anti-aircraft gun.</p></div><p style="font-size: 1.083em;"><a href="/photoessays/2011/04/benghazi-libya-qaddafi-rebels-photos"><strong><em>See all photos from this photo essay &raquo;</em></strong></a></p><div class="photoessay-body"><p>Andrew Treleaven didn't come to Libya to photograph the uprising against Muammar al-Qaddafi, he came to lend a hand. &quot;I wanted to return to the Middle East after witnessing Cairo during its revolution, and I decided to travel to Libya to try to find a relief worker job,&quot; he explains. Yet when he arrived in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi a few weeks ago, he found that the relief agencies weren't hiring. So he picked up his camera. &quot;Luckily,&quot; he says, &quot;my Texas driver's license was enough to get me a press pass from the Transitional Council's media center.&quot;</p>
<p>The newly credentialed photojournalist has been capturing images of life in Benghazi, a city that's been on both sides of the conflict's shifting frontlines. Treleaven has followed the ragtag anti-Qaddafi rebels as they prepare to head into battle, shooting their makeshift training sessions, jury-rigged pickup trucks, and prayers for victory against a foe that's remained resolute in the face of NATO&nbsp;bombardment. &quot;It takes a steely resolve to hop into a '85 Toyota with a Soviet-era machine gun welded to the cross bars and engage a tank division,&quot; he observes. &quot;Every rebel commander I've spoken to believes without a doubt that they can win a rifle-on-rifle war against the Qaddafi loyalists and extraordinarily well-paid foreign mercenaries.&quot;</p>
<p>Treleaven's self-assigned role is a risky one. In the past two-and-a-half months, four journalists have been killed there, and dozens more have been injured, assaulted, or detained, according to the <a href="http://cpj.org/blog/2011/04/journalists-under-attack-in-libya.php" target="_blank">Committee to Protect Journalists</a>. Last week, veteran photojournalists Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros were killed and their colleagues Guy Martin and Michael Brown were wounded in an attack by Qaddafi's forces. Manu Brabo, a Spanish photographer who shot <a href="http://motherjones.com/photoessays/2011/03/libya-refugee-camp" target="_blank">these images of Libyan refugees</a>, is currently being <a href="http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90046240?Detained%20Spanish%20photojournalist%20telephones%20parents%20from%20Libyan%20prison" target="_blank">held in a military prison</a> in Tripoli.</p>
<p>Despite the dangers and his concens about how the stalemated war will play out, Treleaven has gotten a sense of the exhilaration felt by many in Benghazi. He recalls a recent walk along the waterfront shortly after the rebel leadership had rejected a proposed ceasefire: &quot;I took a picture of an adorable little girl holding a Libyan flag. Her father motioned me closer, and as I knelt down she toddled over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. A cool breeze blew across the waterfront, the warm, golden Mediterranean sun faded into the horizon, and for a moment I caught the Libyans' contagious belief that good times are just around the corner.&quot;</p>
</div>PhotoessaysPhoto EssaysInternationalTop StoriesWed, 27 Apr 2011 07:01:00 +0000Andrew Treleaven110646 at http://www.motherjones.com